John Blair enters his ninth season with the Golden Eagles coming
off a 2010 season that was full of ups and downs. The Golden Eagles
started the season 2-12, but were able to find their rhythm and
finish with a 9-8 record the rest of the way to bring their 2010
record to 11-20 with an 8-10 OVC record. Their second half surge
helped TTU reach the OVC Tournament for the fourth straight season
under Blair, as the Golden Eagles advanced to the OVC Tournament
semi-finals.

During the 2010 season, Blair earned his 59th OVC victory when
the Golden Eagles defeated Jacksonville State on November 18. Blair
now has 373 wins after 27 years as a head coach, including 99
career wins at Tennessee Tech, making him the third winningest
coach in program history.
Blair has enjoyed great success within the OVC over the past four
seasons where the Golden Eagles have a combined record of 42-32,
but he admits that it is always a challenge to win within the
conference.

“It’s going to be the most competitive race in all
the years I’ve coached,” said Blair. ”The top
eight will battle all season.”

During his time at TTU, Blair’s players have amassed
numerous awards including 11 all-OVC awards, five all-OVC
Tournament awards, six all-OVC Newcomer awards, as well as an OVC
Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Newcomer of
the Year awards.

Blair’s players have also excelled in the classroom as
they have earned one Academic All-American and four Academic
All-District IV awards as well as 61 OVC Commissioner’s Honor
Roll awards during his time at TTU.

Blair coached at the University of Mississippi for 16 years
prior to coming to Tennessee Tech. As the Rebel’s winningest
coach, Blair coached six all-Southeastern Conference players. With
12 SEC tournament appearances to his credit while at Ole Miss,
Blair brought with him a proven ability to win.

In his tenure at Mississippi, he had an impressive 70 SEC
Academic Honor Roll students and four earned Academic All-America
Honors.

Blair served three seasons as assistant volleyball coach at the
University of Tennessee. While with the Lady Vols, he helped UT
capture SEC titles in 1983 and 1984.

Blair, 60 , also served as head coach at the University of
Illinois from 1980 through 1982, after spending one season as an
assistant coach for the Illini. His 1980 Illinois team participated
in the AIAW National Championship Tournament.

A native of Knoxville, Blair earned his bachelor’s degree
in education from Tennessee in 1976. He played volleyball for the
Volunteers under coach Bud Fields, who led the team to a
ninth-place finish in the open nationals in 1976. He competed in
the World University Games in 1973 and was a member of the United
States training team for the Pan Am Games in 1974 and the U.S.
National training team in 1975.

In addition to his collegiate coaching experience, Blair coached
the South men’s team to a gold medal in 1986 and a bronze
medal in 1987 in the U.S. Olympic Festival and led the Texas Stars
USA Volleyball team to the 1996 championship in the men’s
master’s division.